Iron Lake: Cork O'Connor, Book 1

Anthony Award-winning author William Kent Krueger crafts this riveting tale about a small Minnesota town’s ex-sheriff who is having trouble retiring his badge. Cork O’Connor loses his job after being blamed for a tragedy on the local Anishinaabe Indian reservation. But he must set aside his personal demons when a young boy goes missing on the same day a judge commits suicide—and no one but O’Connor suspects foul play.

Riveting Mystery

My husband and I listened to this on our way to New Orleans to visit our daughter and her family. Couldn't stop listening . . . listened to it in bed..Show More » after we got there . . . listened to it on our little side trips . . . finally finished it in bed the second day we were there . . . this is a book for both men and women . . . and it will keep you guessing . . . I love the historical aspect of the Indian customs and superstitions . . . Cork the ex-sheriff is a normal guy, with an arrow straight moral compass . . . I like that about him . . . and what he uncovers will blow your mind . . . thought I had it figured out, then I didn't . . .

Boundary Waters

Drawing strong comparisons to the work of James Lee Burke and Tony Hillerman, William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor mysteries never fail to please fans. Here Cork joins the search for a country-western singer who has disappeared in the wilderness along the American/Canadian border.

Another unusual adventure

As usual, I recommend that you read the publisher's summary. Often there is more information than I would give: I really try not to write spoilers...Show More »r/>This is a mystery with murders and murderers literally coming out of the woods. I find it interesting that Cork O'Connor, no longer in law enforcement, is the "go to" guy for every agency and mercenary in his area. This story has twists and turns that kept me guessing until near the end. Also, new inforrmation is added about Cork's personal life, the Indian reservation, and the casino. This book seems to pick up where the last one left off, but it can easily stand alone.

David Chandler's narration includes voices for the different characters and he remains consistent with his portrayals. This is a good performance.

Purgatory Ridge: A Cork O'Connor Mystery, Book 3

William Kent Krueger is the award-winning author of the popular Cork O’Connor mysteries. In Purgatory Ridge, Krueger crafts a riveting tale which has ex-sheriff O’Connor on the case after a heated town debate turns deadly. The local Anishinaabe Indian tribe is furious to discover that Karl Lindstrom’s lumber mill is after a grove of trees sacred to tribal lore. So when the mill gets bombed, killing a man, the tribe is blamed. But O’Connor has a different theory.

If you like Longmire...

You will like this series. It is similar to Longmire in many ways, but has more family involvement. It definitely keeps your interest and you find you..Show More »rself becoming more invested in getting to know the family and hoping for the best for all it's members.

I will eventually work my way through this series. I am glad that I took a chance.

Blood Hollow

After 17-year-old Charlotte Kane, the beautiful, brilliant, and brooding daughter of a rich widower, disappears on a drunken New Years' Eve snowmobile ride, a raging blizzard soon snuffs out all search efforts. When her body is found during the spring thaw four months later, preliminary evidence implicates her ex-boyfriend: Ojibwe bad-boy Solemn Winter Moon. But then a second Charlotte Kane turns up dead, and Cork isn't sure of anything any more.

Winter snows leave a body in the spring thaw!!

Cork O'Conner is now the ex-sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota, but when a young high school girl goes missing one New Year's Eve, and shows up dead in a sn..Show More »ow mobile crash in the spring thaw, Cork finds himself in the center of the investigation. A young "bad boy" Ojibwa, Solemn, seems to be the most likely suspect for his former girlfriend's murder. Cork believes he's innocent, and besides Cork has a soft spot for the boy because of his connection to the Ojibwa man who basically raised Cork.

The new sheriff, and much of the towns folks would just as soon convict the "Indian" and close the case. Things get more complicated when Solemn claims to has seen and heard Jesus speak to him. Then miracles begin happening in the town, and people come from all around to be "healed". Through all these distractions, Cork must sift through all the possible people who might have had cause to kill the girl.

William Kent Kruger develops interesting characters and situations to creat a mystery that is very original. Clues, answers, and surprises develop very naturally within this continuing saga of the O'Conner family and the people of Aurora. This is a colorful and thoroughly interesting series that lines up with the likes of C J Box and Craig Johnson. Krueger is a writer that can take a seemingly simple story and develop intrigue beyond the average writer. I become more engrossed with his writing with each of his books!!

Mercy Falls

Best-selling author William Kent Krueger thrills millions with this Anthony Award-winning entry in his compelling series that already includes Anthony Award winners Iron Lake and Blood Hollow. Still troubled by an ambush that leaves his deputy lingering near death, Sheriff Cork O'Conner must investigate the mutilation murder of a Chicago businessman. Soon Cork finds himself distracted by the lovely female shadowing him and the handsome man stalking his wife.

Great Series...

Normally, I just stick with the authors that I am familiar with and love. I am a huge fan of Nelson DeMille, Lee Child, Vince Flynn and John Grisham. ..Show More »In between their books, I will try a new author, however I rarely invest in a new series. I started this series a few weeks ago because nothing new from my favorite authors was available. I started from the beginning and am now on book six. Mercy Falls is book five. I am sure that I will get them all because I am now invested in Cork and his family.

Something to be said about starting a series that has so many books already published, is that you can go from one book right on to the next without that long wait in between. I as so glad that I gave this author a chance. I am surprised that more people haven't purchased these books. I love them

Copper River

Part Irish, part Native-American, Sheriff Cork O'Connor serves the remote territory of Tamarack County, Minnesota. But big trouble is brewing: a powerful man believes O'Connor killed his son. Now there's a price on the sheriff's head and a bullet in his leg. He finds refuge with his cousin, Jewell, and her teenage son, Ren, in their tiny Michigan town. But when Ren and his friends are threatened, O'Connor must risk his cover to find out why.

Great Book

Well William Kent Krueger did it agan with this great mistery. If you like misterys then you will like this one.

Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery #7

The promise, as I remember it, happened this way. Happy and content in his hometown of Aurora, Minnesota, Cork O'Connor has left his badge behind and is ready for a life of relative peace, setting up shop as a private investigator. But his newfound state of calm is soon interrupted when Henry Meloux, the Ojibwe medicine man and Cork's spiritual adviser, makes a request: Will Cork find the son that Henry fathered long ago?

Needs another narrator

I like to read series in order so no matter what I was going to buy this. But I was not happy.

Red Knife: Cork O'Connor, Book 8

When the daughter of a powerful businessman dies as a result of her meth addiction, her father, strong-willed and brutal Buck Reinhardt, vows revenge. His target is the Red Boyz, a gang of Ojibwe youths accused of supplying the girl's fatal drug dose. When the head of the Red Boyz and his wife are murdered in a way that suggests execution, the Ojibwe gang mobilizes, and the citizens of Tamarack County brace themselves for war, white against red.

BAD CHOICE AS NARRATOR

Consistency, Continuity, Talent with Voices.When signing a narrator for a series, the author or his agent should actually listen to the candidate..Show More »s. Folks that read series become accustomed to the narrator's interpretation of the work and changing mid-stream in this occasionally engaging story line simply ruined it for me. Mr. Schiner is particularly bad at simulating female voices and this alone left me nonplussed and a bit angry, two emotions that most authors would rather avoid.Shame on you, Krueger! This series is a bit thin and ponderous to begin with and this faux pas may spell an early end to my Cork O'Connor patronage.

Heaven's Keep: A Cork O'Connor Mystery

Every married couple knows you don't go to bed angry. The corollary, Cork O'Connor realizes, is that you also don't say goodbye when you're mad. When the charter plane Jo O'Connor is on crashes over the mountains in Wyoming in an early winter storm, Cork deeply regrets the heated argument he had with his wife just before she left. An intense search is launched, but bad weather and the steep terrain hinder the efforts and soon the search is abandoned.

Exciting!

Wow! This listening experience grabs you fast and holds you hard! The whole Cork O'Connor series is great to read or listen to, but this one is part..Show More »icularly suspenseful and heartbreaking.Just be careful if you're driving. You'll want to make the trip longer and longer because you just can't bear to stop yet!

Vermilion Drift: A Cork O'Connor Mystery

His first day on the job, Cork stumbles across a secret room with the remains of six murder victims inside. Five appear to be nearly half a century old - connected to what the media had dubbed “The Vanishings,” a series of unsolved disappearances in the summer of 1964, when Cork’s father was sheriff in Tamarack County. But the sixth has been dead less than a week. What’s worse, two of the bodies - including the most recent victim - were killed using Cork’s own gun, one handed down to him from his father.

Another Great Cork O'Connor Mystery!!

Great mystery and full of suspense. The historic information and the suspense keep you wanting for more. The characters are great. Have recommended Co..Show More »rk O'Connor books to nearly anyone who will listen. This is another of the great stories William Kent Krueger brings to life in the character of Cork O'Connor!

Northwest Angle: A Cork O'Connor Mystery

During a houseboat vacation on the remote Lake of the Woods, a violent gale sweeps through unexpectedly, stranding Cork and his daughter, Jenny, on a devastated island where the wind has ushered in a force far darker and more deadly than any storm. Amid the wreckage, Cork and Jenny discover an old trapper’s cabin where they find the body of a teenage girl. She wasn’t killed by the storm, however; she’d been bound and tortured before she died. And from outside comes the soft wail of an infant, abandoned in the brush....

Not quite as riviting as others, but...

I love the William Kent Kreuger books, if for no other reason that the setting is nearly home territory for me. As a kid, I spent summers in this are..Show More »a, so I can picture most of the places he mentions. One thing surprised me -- at a couple of points, Kreuger has his characters swimming for hour after hour in Lake of the Woods. Seems to me that even in summer, that water was pretty darn cold. I cede to his greater knowledge, I guess, over my memory. But really? Could all these people, non-professional swimmers -- not trained, not the kind of people who regularly challenge the English Channel or San Francisco Bay -- really be able to spend hours in that water without ill effects? I wonder about that.

Then too, usually these books are totally engrossing, I'm always completely unable to find a place to stop. This one wasn't that, so much. A different kind of book. It had its moments, certainly, but there was more emphasis here on the nature of love and belonging than there was on creating a thriller. Or so I thought. Still, a good book -- Christians and lovers of Indian lore will love it, certainly.

Others have criticized the narrator -- and I have to say I sympathize a bit. Certainly the attempt at a Minnesota accent went flat, and I cringed all the way through at his odd pronounciation of the word "baby", a word that seemed to appear in darn near every sentence. (Who can possibly manage to mispronounce that word?) By the end, though, I'd come to terms with it.

All in all, I'd buy it again. Not quite a standard Kreuger, but plenty fine, anyway.

Trickster's Point: A Cork O'Connor Mystery, Book 12

New York Times best-selling author William Kent Krueger has won numerous accolades for his books, including the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. In Trickster’s Point, the 12th suspenseful installment in Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series, Cork is framed for the murder of Minnesota’s first Native American governor-elect, Jubal Little. As Cork fights to clear his name and uncover the truth, he discovers that events from his own past may hold the key to the real killer’s identity.

I'm Just Saying...

Although I enjoyed this book in general, I believe that William Kent Krueger has committed a real author's no-no here. Regular fans of this series (an..Show More »d I am definitely one) will wonder why, if Cork O'Connor has been such a close friend of his Congressman for all these years, he didn't call on him to help when his wife Jo was missing - when he was so desperately looking for anyone who could exert influence in finding a missing airplane.Why is such a prominent man who was evidently a big part of Cork's youth (and a continuing hunting buddy) a totally new character to us in the 12th book?

This glaring problem aside, "Trickster's Point" is a pretty solid entry in the series. It lacks the blazing action that has opened the last few O'Connor adventures, but the mystery here is an intriguing one. Although I believe most of us will have the who-done-it figured out before the reveal, it's still a riveting story. Cork's strong family values are still front and center, and he continues to present Ojibwe characters and culture in interesting ways. The narrator is terrific.

Tamarack County: Cork O'Connor, Book 13

William Kent Krueger is a New York Times best-selling author whose popular Cork O’Connor mysteries display an "intimate knowledge of Minnesota’s northern reaches and respect for Native American life" (Publishers Weekly). In Tamarack County, former sheriff Cork O'Connor investigates the disappearance of a retired judge’s wife - and discovers the bloody aftermath of a 20-year-old crime.

Good but not great

I've enjoyed this series, but lately the books are not as exceptional. Case in point, Cork's children are older but there is no real character develo..Show More »pment; a teen age boy who is interested in girls - big surprise, a daughter who adopted a baby - wonderful but what about her career & social life and another daughter who is studying to become a nun but just realizes that she is gay when she is twenty something???. Then Cork is involved with a woman for years but he's not sure if it's serious so he jumps in bed with the first attractive woman he meets - not what we would expect from a mature father & grandfather in a small town. While a well written murder mystery is important, an interesting cast of believable characters are what drive me to read book after book in a series. I was disappointed when the book ended and I didn't learn anything new about the O'Connor family.

Windigo Island: Cork O'Connor, Book 14

The award-winning author of the best-selling Cork O’Connor series, William Kent Krueger pens novels with pulse-racing suspense. In Windigo Island, the corpse of an Ojibwe girl washes ashore, and locals at the Bad Bluff reservation believe it to be the work of the mythical Windigo. But the dead girl’s friend is also missing, and sheriff-turned-PI Cork O’Connor will brave any danger to bring her home.

All Saints

I love the characters in Krueger's Cork O'Connor series. They are mostly back for this adventure, and, as always, adventure it is!

The sto..Show More »ry line involves rescuing girls of Ojibwe ancestry from the evils they often find when they run away from the reservation. As young as 13 or 14, they are often enticed into lives of prostitution and have nowhere to turn for safety. This brings Cork, along with Jenny and Henry and others, into the dangerous world of the Lake Superior docks in Duluth.

As is usually evident in this series, there's a spiritual element involving the "Windigo," a demon of myth and, in this case, a real man and his cohorts. Cork, Henry, and Jenny face physical danger and their personal devils and anxieties along the way.

So, the story moves along, and we are happy to be in the company of these people. My one concern is that Cork and his family (and extended family) have all become quite saintly. I miss the old conflict that Cork had with his wife. Henry has always served as the conscience of this world, and his spirituality and wisdom are believable and inspiring (although his physical exploits at nearly 100 stretch the imagination). I'm not quite ready to accept that all the characters have joined him in perfection.